Circuit-interrupter



H. R. MEYER.

CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER.

APPLlcATloN FILED ocr. 1, 1916.

Patented Feb. 15,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET llll Harry. FE. Meyer.

WITNESSES:

" ATTRNY v H. n. MEYER. CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. I, I9I6- 1,368,344, Panwa Feb. 15, 1921.

2 SHEE'TS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR Harry F?. Meyer? WITNESSES;

' v BY ArrbRNEY u f UNlTED sTArEs PATENT ,oFFicEQ Innern. MEYER, or PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A ssIGNoR To wms'rINefnoUsn `lazztricfrmc &-,-,MANU1AcTUmNGicoMPANY, A coRPoRATIoN oF PENNSYLVANIA.

' CIRCUITp-INTERRUPTER.

To allwhom'z' may concern.' n

Be ,it known that I -HANRY MEYER, a citizen of they United States, and a resident of Pittsburgh, nthe countyoi1 Allegheny 5 and State-of' Pennsylvania, havey invented a new and useful'lmprovementin Circuit Interrupters, of wvhiichlthe following is a jfMy invention" relates to` 'circuit interrupters `and ',particularlyjtc interrupters ofthe railway or inclosedarc-extingulshing type.

V :indicated character that shall be com act in structure, chea to; manufacture, real yily adjustable y and re iable t11n1ts operation. o

Figure "f1 of the accompanying drawings is e; plan View, With ythe cover removed, of

a circuitinterrupter embodying myinven-l tion, and FigLfQ `is anend view, partially in 'section' and partially; in elevation, of they interrupter shown in`Fig.'1. j L n A n inclosingxhousing 1 is provided with a plurality of eetQ'eXtending laterallyfrom its base forfthe purpose of la'fyJilitating, the mountingofjthe vsame [onthe ceiling or be- ".neath rthe r`floor of a railway vehicle.' A

c c covermember is hinged toaportion of the 40"*housing l, and a plurality of internallugs 4 are'provided'on the side opposite, tothe cover member .3 for supporting the interru ter mechanism.

plate 5, constructed ofinsulati-ng maten rial, issecured by screws' 6to the lugse and mountedk lthereon a `stationary"terminal member "7, yan electromagnet 8,v a' pivotally mounted". loperating lever`r 9, a pivotallymounted movable member 10, a latchmg de 'i 50 vice 11 and acalibrating device 12.

v'The `operating lever9 is pivotallyy mounted on a post'13 upon which is also mounted the. movable member 10 that has .ac'ontactcarrying member 14 pivotally kconnected Specification of Letterslatent.

Patented Feb. `.15,v E'1921.

n ,Application `1led"0ctober 7, 1916. Serial No. 124,281.

thereto.y A `stationary contact-lingen 15 secured yto the stationary contactfterminal member 7, and a Contact "nger 1'6 Vislfsec'ured to the contact-carrying'member 14j -fA-ten sion spring -17 lis, operatively"connectedlbetweena stationarylmember V"18 andfthe mvable member 10, andr a compression i spring 19,` is disposed between'thejconta'ctearrying member 14 and thellmovable member 10.

Similarly, a ter-isionH springQO is: disposed member 10. They movablemeniber `101is-s`o constructed that, when `theleverfarm`1`92is turned 1n `a clockwise` f direction,i iitengaes a portionlof vthe 4movableSmember 710, 1'

thereby moving the same to tensionvthe spring 17 i and compress "f the 'springl).

` Thus, When the movable member 10 y'is actuated, theimovable contact #member "'16 yengages the stationary Lcontact ymember 15, and, since the contact-carrying member 14 is pivotally mounted on they memberelO,

` the contact emember lwvill have axfsliding motion with respect to its cooperating contact memberl.v Y

T he latching device '11 'comprisesy a spring-restrainedmember'QQ of substam tia-ily va' l vchannel shape that 4`is. ypivotally mounted on Va pin 22a near one end thereof.

portion neaIits lother-endiscutaway to constitute en 'engtging -or 'stop member 23 for vkthe movable `member v10. Whenfthe movable member" 10'v is moved tosuch posi-l jtion by fthe -lever-arm 9 that'- the :contact members are in engagement, 4the'rneI'n'berQlQ Will assumesubstantially `they position shown inthedrawings.

The 1electromagn'et/` 8 comprises a'imagnetizable core member 24,51, 'pivotally-mounted aii'mature125V i end `a Winding* QGone; terminal of which is operatively connected vto the contact-carrying member 111 vand-fthe other terminal of xvhichis 'connected-to a' conductori27 that is adaptedzto 'pass through :L bushing 27 inthehousin'g 1. Asirrilarbushing 2S is provided for u'. conductor?) thatis c0nit magnetizable memberv BO, that is adapted to extend toa positionv adjacent Ythecontact members land 16, is mounted on the lower surface of the supporting plate 5 in'en'gfgfaggement with the stationary f core kmember of the electromagnet 8. Similarlyyamngrnetizable member 31, that is 'adapted lto e);-

p n'e'cted tothe stationary 4contact terminal 7.

tend from the armature 25 of the electro magnet 8 to a position adjacent the contact members l5 and 1G, is mounted on the cover 3. Thus, a strong magnetic ield is directed across any arc that may be drawn villen the contact members 15 and 16 are separated for the purpose of' extinguishing the same.

A bell-crank lever 32 operatively con nected to the armature et the electromagnet 8 and has, loosely disposed in one arm thereof, a screw-threaded member 33 having a pointer 34 thereon. A spring 35 is operatively connected, at one of its ends, to one end oic the screivethreaded member 32 and, at its other end, to a stationary member 36. A nut 37 is adapted to engage the other end, of the screw-threaded member 32 and the pointer 34 is adapted to cooperate with a scale 38 to indicate the tension ot the spring 35 and, consequently, thevalue of current necessary to traverse the Winding 26 of the electromagnet 3 to cause its armature 25 to operate.

A lip or projecting member 39 is mounted on the armature 25 and is adapted to engage one end of a rocking lever 40 that is mounted on projections or brackets 41 on the post 13. rEhe end 42 or" the lever 40 is adapted to engage the latching member 22 and is so shaped that, when it is actuated by the' armature 25, it causes the member 22 to turn in a counter-clockwise direction for the purpose of releasing the movable member 10 and, consequently, the movable contact member 16. A pin 43 is mounted on the operating lever arm 9 adjacent the member 22 and is adapted to move the member 22 in a counter-clockwise direction when the lever arm 9 is moved in a similar direction. Thus, the interrupter may be tripped either automatically at a predetermined overload or manually by a relatively small movement of the operating lever arm 9.

A portion of the housing l is cut away to permit the insertion of an arc chute. 44 that may be constructed of asbestos or other insulating material. lThe arc chute 44 is adapted to surround the contact members 15 and 16 and is secured in position by a slidable bolt or latch 45 that is locked by a screwT 45a which, With the latch, are accessible from the exterior oi' the' housing 1. By such construction, the are chute 4-1 may be removed from the housing 1 Without the necessity of opening the same.

When it is desired to manually trip the intorrupter, the lever arm 9 is moved a relatively short distance in a counteicloclzivise direction to cause the spring 20 to be tensioned'.v lVhen the spring 2O is suiiiciently tensioned. the pin vvill move the member 22 out or engagement with the movable member 10, and the spring 17 will quickly turn the movable member lO about the post 13 and, in cooperation with the spring 19,

will cause the movable Contact member l6 to quickly disengage the stationary contait member 15 with a desirable sliding motion.

When a sufficiently large overload traverses the' device to cause the armature 25 to operate against the action of the spring- S5, the rocking lever 40 will be artuated to cause the movement of the member 22 in a counter-clockwise direction and the disengagement ot the contact members 15 and 1G substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

I do not limit my invention to the particular structure set forth, as it may be variously modilied Without departing Jfrom the spirit and scope ot the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

l claim as my invention:

1. In a circuit interrupter, the combination with a stationary contact member, of a pivotally-mounted member having a projection thereon, a movable contact member pivotally mounted on the pivotally-mounted member, an operating lever arm adapted to engage the projection on the pivotallymounted member to actuate the movable contact member, a latch adapted to engage the projection on the pivotally mounted member to hold the contact members in engagement, and means for tripping the latch.

2. In a circuit interrupter, the combination with a stationary contact member and a projection thereon, of an operating lever arm adapted to engage the projection on the movable member to actuate the same, a latch adapted to engage the projection on the movable member to hold the contact members in engagement, and means for actuating the latch member.

3. In a circuit interrupter, Vthe combination with a stationary contact member and a movable contact-carrying member having a projection thereon, of an operating lever arm adapted to engage the projection on the movable member to actuate the same, a latch adapted to engage the projection on the movable member t'o hold the contact members in engagement, means for yieldingly holding the operating lever arm in its closed position, and means for actuating the latch member.

4. In a circuit interrupter, the combina vtion with a stationary contact member and a movable contact-carrying member having a projection thereon, of an operating lever arm adapted to engage the projection on the movable member to actuate the same, a latch adapted to engage the' projection on the movable member to hold the contact members in engagement, and means for manually and automatically actuating the latch member.

5. The combination with a movable contact member and an operating lever relaa movable contact-carrying` member having tively movable with respect thereto., of a latch member for restraining the movable contact member in its closed position, a pivotally-mounted member having a beveled portion adapted to en age the latch member when it is actuated or the purpose of so movin c the latch member as to release the movab e contact member, and means mounted on the operating lever for also moving the latch member when the said operating lever is moved relatively to the contact member. c

6. In a circuit interrupter, the combination with a stationary contact member, and

a movable contact-carrying member having a projection thereon, of an operating lever e jection to hold the contact members in en gagement, and a pin mounted on the operating lever arm for moving the latch out of engagement with the projection on the movable member.

In testimony whereof, Iphave hereunto subscribed my name this 6th day of October,

HARRY R. MEYER. 

